Author(s): Ashish Purohit
Within the Indian entrepreneurial landscape, Indian rural women entrepreneurs represent a significant but largely unexplored sector. Women encounter many obstacles when starting and expanding their businesses in rural India, where traditional gender roles are strongly ingrained. These difficulties range from a lack of financial resources, poor education, and a lack of business acumen to deeply embedded cultural norms that frequently prohibit them from engaging in economic activity. Despite these challenges, rural women entrepreneurs are making major contributions to the socioeconomic advancement of the nation by assuming leadership positions in their communities and industries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the various obstacles that rural women entrepreneurs in India must overcome and to look into the strategies that can help them do so. The study looks at the support and resource-giving functions of various government programs, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and self-help groups (SHGs). Furthermore, the significance of skill development programs, community-based incubators, and microfinance is highlighted as essential elements of empowerment. This paper emphasizes the potential of rural women to drive local and national growth by highlighting successful case studies of women entrepreneurs who have thrived through innovation and resilience. This study ultimately promotes a future in which rural women entrepreneurs play a leading role in reshaping India's socio-economic fabric in addition to being economic contributors. India can unleash the enormous potential of its rural women entrepreneurs by creating an environment that supports their growth, which will result in more inclusive and sustainable development.